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Annie said, “What about me?”
“Well, you’re a girl.”, I said, “You’ll be bringing them drinks when they’re thirsty, making them sandwiches, picking up after them. That’s what girls do.” 
She looked at me & said, “You’re thinking about robots, mom”
:D
I should blog more often...
Click on the big blue circle.
Everybody has to cross the river.
Only 2 persons on the raft at a time.
The father can not stay with any of the daughters, without their mother's presence.
The mother can not stay with any of the sons, without their father's presence.
The thief (striped shirt) can not stay with any family member, if the Policeman is not there.
Only the father, the mother, and the policeman know how to operate the raft.
To move the people click on them.
To move the raft, click on the pole on the opposite side of the river.
McHenry pulls plug on mascot merriment
Mattress Man and Lady Liberty are the costumed faces of a fuzzy clash between commercial speech and a city's attempt to ensure public safety
By Jeff Long
Tribune staff reporter
Published August 21, 2006
Dressed in a baby-blue costume with comically large hands, Mattress Man danced and waved until recently in front of a store in northwest suburban McHenry, doing his bit to sell the benefits of a good night's sleep.
"We usually send him out for a couple hours to attract attention," said Ray Westman, owner of the Verlo Mattress Factory store on West Elm Street. "He can't be out there for more than 5 minutes without horns starting to blow. People wave to him."
But Mattress Man has boogied outside for the last time--at least in this small McHenry County community.
The McHenry City Council has banned Mattress Man, Lady Liberty and other costumed mascots under a new law that took effect last week.
The mascots, which city officials consider "moving signs" that can be regulated, are now as illegal as those using neon lights or video screens.
Fines for violating the ordinance can cost $50 to $750 a day.
"We think it's a distraction to drivers," said Joseph Napolitano, McHenry director of community development.
But that wave with a giant foam hand, that little dance, may just be protected under the constitutional guarantee of free speech, some experts say.
It might be appropriate to regulate the size and type of signs that businesses use for aesthetic reasons, said DePaul University professor Rodney Blackman, who teaches a 1st Amendment seminar.
"But here we're not talking about aesthetics," he said. "We're talking about expression."
Blackman said the U.S. Supreme Court has not been very clear about 1st Amendment protections for commercial speech.
"The court's position in regards to commercial speech is all over the lot," he said.
Napolitano said there had been complaints about noise when people drive by and honk at the mascots.
But Blackman said that generally it is government's job to find ways to protect expression.
"It's normally the job of the regulator to deal with negative consequences," he said.
If people are honking at mascots, police should ticket the motorists, he said.
Business mascots have been banned elsewhere. North suburban Vernon Hills, for example, outlawed them in March 2005.
"We don't allow balloons, flags, flashing lights," said Vernon Hills Building Commissioner Vernon Gerth. "Or mascots."
Chicago also prohibits mascots and other types of solicitation on public streets and sidewalks because of the nuisance they can create. After a warning, a business can be fined up to $1,000.
But officials in some other municipalities say they have had no problem and see no reason to ban the mascots.
"We do have people who have mascots, so we allow them," said Bill Ernat, director of community development in south suburban Homewood. "As long as they don't bother traffic. They can stand out there, but they can't be flagging people down."
In McHenry, the owner of Liberty Tax Service said the new law would seriously damage her business.
Angie ZXUH--she uses all capital letters in her last name--said a survey found that 77 percent of her 421 new customers last year came into her office on Elm Street because of her Statue of Liberty mascot.
Lady Liberty stands outside during the January-to-April tax season and waves to passersby. The "wavers" earn $9 an hour. The new law cost them their jobs, ZXUH said.
"It's more effective than direct mail," ZXUH said, checking out the retired foam head of Lady Liberty, part of a costume that stands about 8 feet tall when someone is wearing it.
"It's more effective than advertising. It's really quite strange, if you think about it," she said.
Besides concerns about driving distractions, McHenry officials also said they worried about the people inside the bulky costumes.
"On a 100-degree day, you have a guy in one of those mattress costumes," Napolitano said. "I know I wouldn't want to do that."
But the heat isn't a big deal to Ryan McReynolds, 17, one of the two high school students who got the gig last year as Mattress Man at the McHenry store. The two have other duties at Verlo and won't lose their jobs.
McReynolds, who wore the 4 1/2-foot-tall, 3-foot-wide mattress suit, said his boss, Westman, does not send the mascots outside if it's hotter than 90.
The specially made suits, which all Verlo franchises use, also have vests that hold ice cubes to keep the wearers cool.
"If it gets too warm, we can just come inside," McReynolds said, adding that the job beats other part-time work.
"You get people who honk and wave," he said. "It's fun, standing on a sidewalk waving to people."
And McReynolds said girls dig a guy in a goofy mattress suit. They come up and want their pictures taken with you, he said.
Westman, who also runs Verlo Mattress Factory Stores in Lake Geneva, Wis., and Crystal Lake, wasn't aware of the new law in McHenry. He said the mascots are required at all 60 of the franchise's stores in nine states.
Mattress Man attends charity events and has even kicked out the first ball for the Milwaukee Wave soccer team, Westman said, adding that such appearances will continue.
Although police officials in McHenry said they were not aware of any accidents caused by Mattress Man or other mascots in town, Westman said he understands the concern.
"You can't argue it's not a distraction," he said.
"Because that's what it's there for. He's going to be bringing attention to the front of the store."
